As part of the extended-format pre-IPC India 2017 Permaculture Design Certificate Course (PDC), we are excited to offer a limited number of places on the four thematic streams as one-week Advanced Permaculture Design Trainings. Participants who already hold a PDC Certificate can choose between Agriculture, Earthworks and Water, Social Permaculture, and Urban Permaculture for their Advanced Permaculture Design Training. This is a unique opportunity to learn permaculture techniques and strategies in your specific area of interest from an international team of experienced instructors and practitioners.

Participants will join the PDC students at the end of their core curriculum time. Each thematic stream batch has a maximum of 30 students, and several smaller groups per stream work together on a real-life design project that is presented to the other participants at the end of the course. Each stream is facilitated by two or more instructors with applied permaculture experience in that specific field. Participants also join the PDC groups on a one-day field trip to Aranya Farm.

In addition to working closely with your stream instructors, there will be many opportunities to meet and interact with our full instructor team. What better way to start your IPC India experience, and perhaps, a longer journey through India! Come join us for seven days to meet and interact with people from all over the world and learn permaculture in a dynamic and enriching environment!

Who can attend this course?

Anyone who has completed a Permaculture Design Certificate Course (PDC). This course is a great learning opportunity for deepening your knowledge in an applied field of permaculture of your choice: Agriculture, Earthworks & Water, Urban Permaculture or Social Permaculture

The course will be conducted in English, and participants need a functional level of English in order to follow and contribute to classes, clarify doubts, collaborate in groups and present their group design project.

If you have already completed a PDC and are interested in sharing and teaching permaculture, also take a look at our Teacher Training course offered from 21st to 30th October 2017. If you already completed a Teacher Training and are interested in being a Teaching Assistant during this PDC, please get in touch with Nina on ipcpdc2017 [at] gmail [dot] com to get more info.

We are also looking for volunteers to help with the preparation & implementation of the pre-IPC India Teacher Training and PDC course. If you would love an opportunity to contribute to IPC India 2017 and to these extraordinary courses, to expand your international permaculture network, and if you are an enthusiastic team worker and speak Telugu, please contact Nina on ipcpdc2017 [at] gmail [dot] com.

What will you get out of this course?

During this one-week course, you will get a chance to:

Interact and network with participants and experienced instructors from all over the world;

Receive a toolkit of comprehensive course materials covering all the different areas of permaculture design (printed playbook and digital files);

Gain an in-depth understanding of an applied area of permaculture design in a thematic stream of your choice, with hands-on projects specific to your stream;

Work together in a small group on a design project that you will present at the end of the course;

Experience living & learning on the same farm where preparations for IPC India 2017 are underway;

Receive a Participation Certificate with an emphasis on the stream of your choice upon completion of the course curriculum and the group design work.

Course Curriculum

Thematic Streams

In addition to covering the international 72-hour PDC core curriculum, as agreed upon by permaculture associations in different parts of the world, participants get to spend an additional 15 to 20 hours to focus on one of the four thematic streams. The focus on a thematic stream allows you to deepen your understanding of a particular area of applied permaculture that interests you. Click on the name of the thematic stream of your choice for more details:

Agriculture: Narsanna Koppula, Clea Chandmal & Govinda Sharma

Instructors: Narsanna Koppula, Clea Chandmal, Govinda Sharma

Guest Presenters: to be confirmed.

The agriculture stream will give participants confidence in starting and managing a productive Permaculture agricultural system.

More than 90 percent of our food comes from agriculture and approximately 50% of the Earth is agricultural land. If the agricultural system is healthy, we can have healthy food and a healthy Earth. Today both are in dire shape. Bad agricultural practices are leading to malnutrition, cancers, climatic fluctuations and depletion in potable water. A successful Permaculture practitioner should know how to navigate between the different agricultural systems we have today, and be able to design site specifically and chose appropriate tools and techniques.

Topics discussed in this stream include:

Conceptual clarity about the effects of GMOs, agro-chemicals, multinational companies, heavy machines and large supermarket chains.

Familiarity with the main alternative systems we have today, namely natural farming, biodynamic farming, organic farming, conservation agriculture, agro-ecology, NatuEco farming and ecological farming. We will focus on inter-links between these and their feasibility (or not) in specific scenarios and how these can be similar to or different from permaculture.

Strategy: How to design for the immediate and long term needs of the farmer in different climatic zones, seasons and landscapes: tropical arid, tropical humid, temperate arid, temperate humid, summer, winter, sloping lands, flat lands

Strategy: How to design for market fluctuations, unpredictable incomes, unpredictable climate and catastrophe

Practical knowledge: Estimating the size and allocation of appropriate land for different elements such as crops, water, forest, animals and so on.

Large scale-urban farming. This will include discussion on technologies such as hydroponics and multi-tiered buildings solely for the production of food. We could discuss whether these fit into permaculture or not.

Methods used to cover these topics:

Brainstorming activities

Hands-on practicals in selected techniques

Photo tour of exemplary permaculture farms

Guest lectures from local farmers and professionals

Real field case studies from different farms of the world

Earthworks and Water: Rico Zook & Gopi Sankarasubramani

Instructors: Rico Zook & Gopi Sankarasubramani

Guest Presenters: Brock Dolman & to be announced

All physical land systems are literally grounded in the earth. The Water and Earthworks stream will look from the micro to macro scales of understanding about water and landscape for designing, working and shaping the earth as the foundation for regenerative systems. Concurrently learning and understanding about how water interacts and affects the landscape, supports productive landscapes with human habitation, and its central role in resilience and regenerative system design. This stream is a more in depth learning experience with conceptual, technical, and practical components woven together for a holistic understanding of earthworks, water, their interplay, and how all of this integrates to support high level regenerative systems. Most of the topics will have been introduced during the PDC, this stream expands and details these topics, first in classroom time, then with as much practical and hands-on projects as our time and the site allow.

Ponds: siting, construction, creating an ecosystem, full site perspective

Water in the built landscape, urban and suburban situations

With more on greywater, blackwater, and all scales and types of water harvesting

Possible projects include:

Hand building small swales, boomerangs, and other small harvesting structures

Creating a larger water holding earthwork, potentially with a machine

Installing various Infiltration systems and structures

Siting these structures

Installing greywater systems for the IPCIndia Convergence

Simple in situ blackwater systems for the IPCIndia Convergence

With lectures, lots of outdoor time (hands-on projects and walkabouts), video and photo shows, discussions, exercises, and guest presenters, the Water and Earthworks Stream provides the participant a strong start for practical applications on multiple levels of what they learn.

Social Permaculture: Robyn Francis, Starhawk & Roshan Rai

Instructors: Robyn Francis, Starhawk, Roshan Rai

Guest Presenters: Padma Koppula

People Care is central to permaculture ethics and practice. The social permaculture stream explores the complex diversity of people and their relationships, how these have evolved within the context of unique socio-ecological systems, and ways in which invisible social systems and cultural patterns interact with tangible and physical factors in design. We will explore a range of strategies and skills for facilitating participatory community processes to empower grassroots action that is inclusive and sustainable.

Urban Permaculture: Jude Hobbs & Hui-i Chiang

Instructors: Jude Hobbs, Hui-i Chiang

Guest Presenters: to be confirmed.

In 2016, an estimated 54.5 per cent of the world’s population lived in urban settlements with one in five people living in a city with more than 1 million inhabitants. (United Nations Population Division).

During this stream, we will guide participants to utilize permaculture principles to make the best use of key strategies and techniques to create highly resilient life styles, environments and livelihoods in the urban setting. We will describe ways to close the loops in diverse cultures and climates.

Topics covered in this stream:

Revisiting the systems learned in the PDC and how these are utilized in the urban environment.

Understanding urban ecosystems and human settlements patterns

Urban Site Analysis and Design process: from small (the integral urban homestead) to mid: (neighborhood clusters) to large (city wide operations). Designing for intergenerational needs/functions.

Upon registration, you will be asked to rate your preference of stream topics. While we will try to accomodate everyone's preferences as best as we can, we cannot gurantee that you will get into your first choice of stream.

Hands-On Learning

The course venue is Polam farm, a large farm in rural Telangana that is currently being developed into a permaculture farm. This gives participants an opportunity to work on a real-life design and implement some design elements right away during the course. Practical sessions and demonstrations give participants a chance for hands-on learning. The farm setting offers an ideal playground for this. Participants will get an opportunity to work on hands-on projects that will benefit the farm.

The course will include a visit to Aranya farm, a 15-year-old permaculture farm with a broad scope to learn from existing structures and practices. It also provides an opportunity to practically implement earthworks and other permaculture practices in the surrounding community farm lands. For instance, as part of each PDC course hosted by Aranya Agricultural Alternatives, one acre of farmland is developed as our contribution to the community. At the same time it provides a learning opportunity for the course participants.

In smaller groups, participants will work on a stream-specific design project of a real-life permaculture design. Each design team will present their work at the end of the course. The finished designs will be left with the farm or other clients as resources. In the past, PDC host sites have implemented many aspects of the designs and sometimes even full designs.

Instructor Team

This Advanced Permaculture Design Training will be taught by a team of experienced permaculture instructors and practitioners from all around the world. In addition to the instructors listed below, guest presenters will bring an exciting variety of backgrounds, skills, experiences and perspectives to the course.

Advanced Permaculture Design Training for Agriculture

Narsanna Koppula (India)

PDC Core Curriculum & Earthworks and Water Stream

Narsanna Koppula is a permaculture pioneer in India. A lover of nature and environment, he was among the first Indians trained by Bill Mollison in the 1980s. With his mentor, Late Dr. Venkat, who has been his constant source of inspiration, they created the first permaculture farms in India and formed Permaculture Farmers Group across the country.

He founded Aranya Agricultural Alternatives with his wife, Padma, in 1999 with the aim to advocate permaculture principles and practices in India as well as all over the world.
They continuously work with farmers in the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh with the goal to empower rural communities through the teaching of natural resource management and permaculture design. A highly energetic teacher on the field, Narsanna has a wealth of knowledge on traditional Indian agricultural practices and he is extremely passionate about disseminating this knowledge to his students and farmers.
www.permacultureindia.org

Govinda Sharma (Nepal)

PDC Core Curriculum & Agriculture Stream

Govinda Sharma has been practising and teaching permaculture since 1992 and has facilitated over 43 PDCs and 575 other short courses in various aspects of Permaculture in Nepal and abroad, and his trainings have included participants from almost 76 countries. He has a Masters Degree in Ecological Agriculture and has worked with farmers all over Nepal and in countries like Austria, Japan, Malawi, India, Qatar and France. He is the Managing Director of Organic Certification Nepal (OCN) and founder of HASERA Organic Farm, a Research and Training Centre dedicated to the promotion of Sustainable Agriculture, Sustainable Development, and Permaculture. He has written or edited 13 important books and proceedings in the field of permaculture.www.organichasera.org

Advanced Permaculture Design Training for Earthworks & Water

Rico Zook (USA)

PDC Core Curriculum & Earthworks and Water Stream

For the past 20 years, Rico has been a Permaculture designer, consultant and educator. He has worked with private individuals, farmers, villagers and local organizations in India, Cambodia, northern New Mexico, the middle-east and other parts of the world. His work focuses on assisting all levels of the global community to create culturally and environmentally appropriate life systems that are resilient and regenerative. He has also worked with local and indigenous cultures to help preserve traditional knowledge and technologies while adapting to, and becoming active members of, our rapidly globalizing world. With work in different climates and cultures, Rico has established himself as one of the new leaders and innovators in permaculture worldwide. This is further supported by his work with global permaculture organizations organizing the International Permaculture Convergence.www.i-permaculture.orgwww.permacultureintl.com

Gopi Sankarasubramani (India)

Earthworks and Water Stream

Gopi Sankara is a farmer and trustee at Navadarshanam. Over the last 25 years, Navadarshanam has been experimenting and demonstrating sustainable alternatives in energy, buildings, water, farming and rural livelihood within a broader frame of ecological and spiritual regeneration. Navadarshanam also supports a food co-operative with predominantly women members operated by the villagers of Ganganahalli with dual aims of providing sustainably grown, healthier traditional food options for urban consumers and supporting rural livelihoods and rural producers of food. An aerospace engineer from IIT, Gopi was a technologist based in California for over 20 years. While living in California, he left the technology industry to explore his life-long passion of growing food and leading a simple life. He worked on farms in the US and formally studied permaculture and sustainable farming practices.http://navadarshanam.org/

Advanced Permaculture Design Training for Social Permaculture

Robyn Francis (Australia)

Lead Instructor, PDC Core Curriculum & Social Permaculture Stream

Robyn Francis is an award-winning international permaculture pioneer, designer, educator, presenter, innovator and founder of Permaculture College Australia.

Robyn has worked in Permaculture since 1983 throughout Australia and overseas in diverse cultures and climates, rural and urban. As the founding director of Permaculture International Ltd (PIL) in 1987, designer and creator of Djanbung Gardens, Australia's leading permaculture centre, and a key instigator of the nationally accredited vocational qualifications in permaculture in Australia, she is committed to improving the quality of permaculture training.

Robyn is a passionate facilitator and educator, dedicated to empowering people to be effective agents of change through her PDCs and professional development for permaculture teachers, designers, and community activists. She has taught over 140 PDCs and over a hundred advanced courses, including the first PDC in India with Bill Mollison in 1987. Her students include some of permaculture's leading teachers and activists.www.permaculture.com.au www.permacultureaustralia.org.au

Starhawk (USA)

Social Permaculture Stream

Starhawk is the author or co-author of thirteen books on earth-based spirituality and activism, including the classics The Spiral Dance, her visionary novel The Fifth Sacred Thing and its long-awaited sequel, City of Refuge. Her 2011 book, The Empowerment Manual: A Guide for Collaborative Groups focuses on patterns of organizing and power that create healthy, nurturing organizations. Starhawk directs Earth Activist Trainings, teaching permaculture design grounded in spirit and with a focus on organizing, activism, and Social Permaculture. She has twenty years of experience teaching and practising permaculture in the US and internationally, and developing a regenerative, carbon-sequestering model on her own ranch in Northern California. www.earthactivisttraining.org/ http://starhawk.org

Roshan P. Rai (India)

Social Permaculture Stream

Roshan P. Rai is a development practitioner with DLR Prerna, a Darjeeling-based NGO since 1996. He works on issues of environment and social equity in the Darjeeling Himalaya. Partnering with marginal communities, models have been initiated resulting in seminal experiences like Darjeeling’s first small farmer organic and fair-trade collective Mineral Springs Sanjukta Vikash Sanstha. With special interest on participatory governance, his intervention has revolved around inclusions in fair-trade movements in tea, conservation efforts, small farmer collectives, traditional community based organisations and NGOs. He works on waste with Zero Waste Himalaya. In recent years he has been focusing on local food cultures, water and communities, and climate change. Roshan engages at a landscape and policy level through his writings, educational institutions and platforms like Integrated Himalayan Initiative, India. www.darjeelingprerna.org

Advanced Permaculture Design Training for Urban Permaculture

Jude Hobbs (USA)

Urban Permaculture Stream

Jude Hobbs is a permaculture educator, designer, and land consultant. Drawing upon over 30 years’ experience in utilizing whole-system design techniques, she provides environmentally sound solutions in urban and rural settings, which promotes sustainable actions.

Through her business, Agro-Ecology Northwest, Jude specializes in designing urban and farm management practices that optimize water storage systems, soil enhancement techniques, biodiversity, resource conservation and income diversification. As an educator, she brings her passion for permaculture to her courses by developing curricula that encompass diverse learning styles and methods that are inspiring and rich in information. Jude’s intention is to empower people to creatively change their everyday patterns so as to care for the earth and each other.

As a co-founder of the Permaculture Institute of North America (PINA) she actively supports the next generation of permaculture trainers through continuing education and professional development.

Hui-i Chiang (Taiwan)

Urban Permaculture Stream

Hui-i Chiang is a leading environmental education and permaculture pioneer in Taiwan. She is the founder of Earth Passengers, which has organized Taiwan’s first environmental education leadership trainings and permaculture courses. During the past two decades, she has focused on energy education, redesigning cities for resilience and food production, and developing appropriate technology. She is active in East Asia environmental networks and has been a consultant for community development, train-the-trainers initiatives, school garden projects and rural revitalization projects in Taiwan and China. Together with her colleagues, Hui-i is now developing a permaculture learning center on the east coast of Taiwan and is currently organizing community projects including a seed library, a local market, a local skill-sharing project, and a women farmers’ cooperative.

She regularly teaches permaculture workshops and PDCs in Taiwan and China. Hui-i is the co-author of “Design for Life,” (向大自然學設計) the first permaculture book in the Chinese-speaking world, based on local permaculture practices and experiences. http://earthpassengers.org

Registration and Course Pricing Options

After registration, you will be asked to pay the full course fee by PayPal (international) or NEFT (from within India). The course fee includes all meals, the option to camp in your own tent, course materials (digital and print), a one-day field trip and your participation certificate. The fee EXCLUDES rented accommodation, please see next section. We strongly encourage those who are financially comfortable to pay the support rate which will enable us to subsidize a reduced rate for the PDC for those who would not otherwise be able to participate. Any profits from this course will be donated to IPC India 2017.

Standard rate: INR 52,000.- (US$ 800.-)

Support rate: INR 64,000.- (US$ 1,000.-)

Important Information

Daily Schedule

The below schedule is tentative and may change before the start of the course. The final schedule may also be subject to change as appropriate during the course and we ask participants to be flexible. Participants will be expected to adhere closely to the class timings to ensure a smooth running of the course.

6:30

Optional morning practice (e.g. yoga)

7:30

Breakfast

8:30

Check-in with the group and energizer

9:30-12:30

Classes with tea break

12:30

Lunch break

14:00-17:30

Classes with tea & snack breaks

17:30

Dinner

19:00-20:30

Class

After an introduction on the day of arrival, the second day is a day off which participants can use to rest or work on their group design projects.

Location & Logistics

Polam farm is located in rural Telangana, about 2.5 hours (110 km) from Hyderabad in Raipad village. We will arrange a bus transfer to the farm from Hyderabad city on November 15th. We strongly recommend that all participants plan to arrive in Hyderabad no later than November 14th. If you miss this bus, you will be responsible for getting to the venue on your own.

More detailed information, directions and a detailed list with things to bring will be sent to you after registration.

In the week after the PDC, Polam farm will be the venue for IPC India 2017. We are currently looking at the possibility of offering extended stay options for those wanting to stay on the farm after the course.

Polam Farm is a new and growing permaculture site. Many of the facilities will be used for the first time during our course. Be aware that this will not be a fancy hotel, nor an urban setting. The facilities will be basic. While we will work hard to keep all facilities clean, everyone in the course will be expected to co-operate and do their bit in keeping the premises clean. With over 160 people on site (participants, teaching team, teaching assistants and support staff) everyone’s contribution will be critical in keeping the site clean.

Tent rental rates are for the entire duration of the advanced training course. Included is a thin mat, pillow and thin blanket. You are encouraged to bring your own sleeping bag or warmer blanket, although we can probably provide a blanket for those who need it at an additional nominal fee (to be confirmed).

Participants who are elderly and/ or have special requirements, please contact Emma on register.ipcpdc2017 [at] gmail [dot] com about your accommodation before registering.

Food

Participants can choose between non-vegetarian, vegetarian, and vegan food. Please let us know of any allergies, intolerances or other special dietary requirements upon registration. We will try to grow as much of the provisions at the location as possible. When sourcing off site, we will try to get organically grown products as much as possible.

Non-veg food will be available 1-2 times a week for those who registered for it, with adequate alternatives provided for vegetarians and vegans.

Climate

The climate in Telangana in November is generally warm and pleasant. Nights can be cool (long pants and a warm jumper/ light jacket). In cold nights in November, temperatures can go down to 14° C (57 Fahrenheit), and on hot days up to 32° C (90 Fahrenheit).